National Geographic USA 06.2020

06.2020

Lawrence
Brooks, 110,
is America’s
oldest known
World War II

veteran.

75 years after the
end of history’s
deadliest war,
survivors share
their stories.

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NATIONAL FURTHER JUNE 2020 On the Cover
GEOGRAPHIC
At age 110, Lawrence
I CONTENTS Brooks of New Orleans
is the oldest known U.S.
veteran of World War II.
From 1941 to 1945 he
served in the Pacific with
the Army’s predominantly
African-American 91st
Engineer Battalion, as a
support worker to its offi-
cers. Brooks says he has
good memories of Army
days, and bad ones—such
as being “treated so much
better in Australia” than by
white people in America.

ROBERT CLARK

IPROOF IEXPLORE IT R AV E L
19
THE BIG IDEA
10 32
Satire and Science
Controversial issues GETTING THERE
are no joke—but treat-
ing them satirically can Jordan’s Epic Trek
help change minds. The Jordan Trail crosses
the country, through
BY PAUL R. BREWER AND deserts to the Red Sea.
JESSICA MCKNIGHT
BY AARON GULLEY
THROUGH THE LENS PHOTOGRAPH BY
CATHERINE HYLAND
A Lost Whale Tale
The beluga was well CLOSER LOOK
trained and friendly.
Was he also a spy? Coastal Connection
Denmark, a nation
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH of 406 islands, is
BY AUDUN RIKARDSEN largely surrounded by
water and blessed with
Inside the Quarantine ALSO coastlines of all kinds.
As the coronavirus
ravaged Italy, a Seeing Shock Waves BY HELEN RUSSELL
photographer in Cuttlefish 3D Glasses
Milan found a way Internet of Elephants ALSO
to take portraits
of subjects in self- Commemorating WWII
quarantine—from afar. Potatoes of Peru

PHOTOGRAPHS BY

GABRIELE GALIMBERTI

J U N E | CONTENTS

I F E AT U R E S The Last Voices Hiroshima Memories Taking the Lead
of World War II Nearly 75 years after Women’s role in politics
More than 66 million a nuclear bomb blast is mandated in some
military men and devastated it, the city nations—but can be
women served in World tries to move on from violently thwarted.
War II, and countless what it cannot forget.
civilians also figured in BY RANIA ABOUZEID
the war effort. To mark BY TED GUP PHOTOGRAPHS BY
the 75th anniversary of ANDREA BRUCE
the war’s end, National . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 86
Geographic shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 108
portraits and stories Emperor Penguins
of some of the last As sea ice dwindles, T R AV E L
surviving witnesses. the species is marching
toward extinction. Air Time
PHOTOGRAPHS BY Skateboards go global.
BY HELEN SCALES
ROBERT CLARK BY ROBERT DRAPER
PHOTOGRAPHS BY PHOTOGRAPHS BY
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 42 DINA LITOVSKY
STEFAN CHRISTMANN
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 132
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P. 94

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J U N E | WHAT’S COMING

I=NAT Take in the wonders of BOOKS
GEO National Parks of Europe
BOOKS Almanac 2021 from
About four decades after the United States created Nat Geo Kids
its first national park (Yellowstone), Sweden set aside The latest edition of
nine wilderness areas, “and the rest of Europe then this best-selling kids’
followed.” So says this glorious guide to 460 parks, almanac brims with fun
including the one above in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. facts; games; features
Organized by region, Complete National Parks of about animals, science,
Europe spotlights historic sites, cultural treasures, sce- technology, conserva-
nic hikes, flora, fauna, and more. The richly illustrated tion—even homework
volume is available wherever books are sold. help. Kids Almanac 2021
is available wherever
books are sold.

TELEVISION

Savor adventure
alongside this
renowned chef
The second season
of Gordon Ramsay:
Uncharted follows the
chef as he journeys off
the beaten path. A new
season returns Sunday,
June 7, at 10/9c on
National Geographic.

BOOKS

Discover the inside
story of three key
WWII leaders
Now in paperback:
The Allies: Roosevelt,
Churchill, Stalin, and the
Unlikely Alliance That
Won World War II. Mark
the 75th anniversary of
the war’s end with this
biography of the Allies’
leaders, by Forrest
Gump author Winston
Groom. Available wher-
ever books are sold.

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J U N E | FROM THE EDITOR

Sharing the Stories of

WORLD WAR II

Those Who Came Home75 YEARS LATER

BY SUSAN GOLDBERG

First Lt. Robert C. Etnire, one of nearly 160,000 Allied troops who landed IN 2005, my husband, Geoffrey Etnire,
on Normandy beaches on D-Day and I went with his parents to visit Nor-
mandy, France. We knew that Geoff’s
THE PARTICIPANTS father, Bob, had been involved in some
WHO SURVIVED THAT way in D-Day, but like many men of
his generation, he never spoke of it.
CONFLICT ARE NOW
MOSTLY IN THEIR 90S, When asked for details about what
happened, Bob would only say that he
AND IT’S IMPORTANT went over “later.” No one pushed the
TO HEAR FROM THEM. point, and the family came to assume
that “later” meant days or even weeks
after the first D-Day landings on June
6, 1944.

Standing on Omaha Beach, we
found out how wrong we were.

I knew I wasn’t supposed to press
Bob about his experiences in World
War II. But on that windswept beach,
amid what remains of German bun-
kers and with the steep cliffs towering
behind us, my reporter’s curiosity got
the best of me.

“Bob, you went over ‘later,’ but when
was that exactly?” I asked.

“Oh, about 11 o’clock in the morn-
ing,” he replied.

“On D-Day itself?”
“Yes.”
And that is how we found out—
incredibly, when he was 85 years
old—where Robert C. Etnire was on
that fateful day. A first lieutenant in
the 102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance
Squadron (Mechanized), he was among
nearly 160,000 American, British, and
Canadian troops who took part in the
largest seaborne invasion in history.
He landed on Omaha Beach.
Thinking about it now, I can under-
stand why this modest American
patriot didn’t want to talk about D-Day.
By the time he arrived at 11 a.m., he
must have stepped over the bodies
of any number of the hundreds of
American soldiers killed in the earlier

PHOTO: COURTESY GEOFFREY C. ETNIRE

THANK YOU

All of us at the National Geographic Society wish to express our gratitude to the philanthropic
partners listed below who supported our work with a gift of $25,000 or more in 2019.

Through your generosity, you’re helping to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world.

ADOBE INC. | AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED | RITA ALLEN FOUNDATION | AMERICAN EXPRESS
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SHIRLEY K . SCHLAFER FOUNDATION | LARRY G. SCOTT, D. M .D. | FONDATI ON SEGRÉ | M R. W I L L I A M S EY D L I T Z*
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*BEQUEST

PHOTO: MICHAEL NICHOLS

J U N E | FROM THE EDITOR

waves of the Omaha assault. Perhaps A Russian man vividly remembers LEFT
he thought that, by comparison, he the day “my kindergarten became my Bob and Joan Etnire in 2012.
didn’t have much to add. first orphanage.” A captured British In London during World War
paratrooper, in league with another II, Bob attended a dance
Despite his silence, he never stopped prisoner of war, sabotaged the factory sponsored by the U.S. Army
thinking about that day. where they worked as forced labor. and met a charming British
He was awaiting the firing squad in woman, Joan Walmsley. After
After Bob died in 2015, at the age of a Dresden prison when Allied planes they married in 1944, Bob
96, we found a yellowed piece of paper firebombed the city and he escaped. brought his war bride back
in plain sight in the top drawer of his to the United States.
desk. No one in the family could recall A Japanese veteran recalls how
seeing it before. It was an official, type- he and other young men “were sent BELOW
written list, dated May 31, 1945, of the to die for the emperor and imperial The May 1945 list of Bob’s
officers and enlisted men in his squad- nation, and everyone acted like we squadron members at
ron who “participated in the assault believed in it.” But at the moment of Normandy Beach, which
which secured the initial Normandy death, he says, “I never heard anyone he annotated and kept until
Beachhead, and are awarded the Bronze calling the emperor”—only the names the end of his life.
Service Arrowhead.” of loved ones.
NOTE TO READERS
On the list of officers, Bob had drawn A German woman we interviewed Due to a printing error,
a circle around the names of the men described her shame at her Nazi some copies of the May
who were killed that day; he put an father’s role in the war, and how she issue included duplicates
X by the names of those who were and her family nearly starved after the of page 20 and no page
wounded. Of the 29 officers listed, 12 advancing Red Army cut off access to 19 in the essay “Meet Your
were killed, according to Bob’s circles. her town. Today she visits schools in Face’s Tiny Tenants.” You
Six were wounded. His own name is Hamburg to warn of a peril she sees can find the entire article
highlighted in pink. I can’t vouch for rising again. “People haven’t learned,” at ngm.com/facemites. We
the accuracy of his casualty count, she says. “It’s horrifying that neo-Nazis apologize for the mistake.
but it is abundantly clear that the war are back, and not just in Germany.”
never left him.
Firsthand accounts of people who
So it is for the men and women we lived through World War II matter, now
talked to for “The Last Voices of World more than ever. After three-quarters of
War II,” this issue’s cover story com- a century, at a time when some would
memorating the 75th anniversary of the deny that certain wartime events
end of the war. The participants who even took place, these survivors have
survived that conflict are now mostly important lessons to teach us.
in their 90s, and it’s important to hear
from them—a first-person telling that Sharing these stories gives all of us
soon will pass to the ages. (One of the one more chance to thank the men and
men we photographed for this story women of the Greatest Generation for
died before we went to press.) their service and sacrifice.

We wanted to provide more than an Thank you for reading National
American perspective. As a result, you
will hear Russian, German, British, and Geographic. j
Japanese voices as well. Their experi-
ences are different but have something
in common: For them as for Bob, the
war never really goes away.

PHOTOS: COURTESY ETNIRE FAMILY (TOP);
REBECCA HALE, NGM STAFF

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PROOF

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LOOKING AT THE EARTH FROM EVERY POS SIBLE ANGLE
10 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C PHOTOGRAPHS BY GABRIELE GALIMBERTI

Under lockdown, the
nightlife hub where
Rebecca Casale lives in
Milan is empty. “I suffer
a lot from loneliness,”
she says. “Silence and
empty spaces make
everything surreal.”

FROM INSIDE THE QUARANTINE

As coronavirus ravaged Italy, a photographer in Milan resorted to taking portraits from afar.

VOL. 237 NO. 6
J U N E 2 0 2 0 11

PROOF

Greta Tanini and
Cristoforo Lippi normally
live apart but found
themselves together
in the shuttered city.
“We prefer to remain
in isolation rather than
taking risks or endan-
gering the health of
others,” Tanini says.

12 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C

J U N E 2 0 2 0 13

PROOF

Top: Luca Volta holds son Giovanni, four, and Michela Croci holds daughter Agata, six, in the kids’ room;
the parents say they try to keep busy with games. Bottom: Sadiq Marco Oladipupo, a rapper who goes by
the name Roy, says he’s using the time confined to his flat “trying to be creative, to work on new songs.”

14 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C

Top: Daniele Veronesi, an artist and set designer, and Anna Mostosi, who works in fashion, appreciate
the free time at home but are growing increasingly worried about the health emergency. Bottom:
Elizabeth and Paolo Lombardi—self-proclaimed hypochondriacs—quarantined before it was mandatory.

J U N E 2 0 2 0 15

PROOF

THE BACKSTORY

IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS, A PHOTOGRAPHER GOES TO
GREAT LENGTHS TO MAKE HIS PORTRAITS.

GA B R I E L E GA L I M B E RT I placed two times, clear fear about the idea of

stands of photographic lights in front meeting me.”

of a window outside a dwelling. He Just a week before, he had cele-

retreated so the people inside could brated Scancarello’s birthday in a

safely retrieve the lights. Shouting crowded restaurant. Now the streets

through the window, Galimberti were empty, the bars were closed, and

directed the positioning of lights and the slightest human contact could

people, then made his photos. This is spark a meltdown. One day in a grocery

quarantine portraiture. store, Scancarello saw a man

“It’s the strangest moment inadvertently brush against

I’ve lived in 42 years of life,” ASIA another, who screamed:
says Galimberti, an Italian “Don’t touch me! You

photographer who was in ATLANTIC Milan don’t even have your mask!
Milan in late February OCEAN ITALY Go away!”

when the lockdown went AFRICA As the death toll rose,

into effect. He and journal- overwhelming hospitals,

ist Gea Scancarello spent the Milan’s residents withdrew

following weeks documenting how inside. “It feels like a war zone,” says

coronavirus changed life in the city. Galimberti. The pair persisted, persuad-

In hopes of making portraits of ing photo subjects with their careful

some of Milan’s inhabitants, they methodology and strict distancing.

began calling their friends. “I immedi- Their aim, he says, was to show people

ately felt a sort of fear in their voices,” around the world how the virus ravaged

Galimberti recalls. “Fear about the Italy so others could “act in advance” to

idea of going out and, a couple of help arrest its spread. —NINA STROCHLIC

Gabriele Galimberti stands on a six-foot ladder to photograph subjects from a safe distance.

NGM MAPS

EXPLORE IN THIS SECTION

Visible shock waves
How cuttlefish see
Conservation gaming
A whale of a spy?

® 1 --------~----NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
ILLUMINATING THE MYSTERIES—AND WONDERS—ALL AROUND US EVERY DAY

VOL. 237 NO. 6

How Satire
Helps Science

CLIMATE CHANGE, GENE EDITING, AND VACCINE USE AREN’T
LAUGHING MATTERS—BUT JOKING ABOUT THEM CAN CHANGE MINDS.

BY PAUL R. BREWER A N D JESSICA MCKNIGHT

I I T M I G H T H AV E B E E N Stephen Colbert, John Oliver,
Jimmy Kimmel, or any of the other sharp-tongued
talk show hosts of late-night TV. In this instance,
it was Samantha Bee, on her program Full Frontal,
doing a stand-up routine about opposition to child-
hood vaccinations. “The anti-vax movement has
been spreading faster than Legionnaires’ disease at
the Playboy Mansion,” Bee declared, barely pausing
for audience laughter. Claims that these vaccines
are harmful rest on shoddy science, she said; the
vaccines have been deemed safe by the World Health
Organization and Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. “Who are you going to believe?” she
asked. “Leading authorities on medical science,
or 800 memes on your cousin’s Facebook page?”

Joking about science can have serious effects,
according to studies by communication scholars, us
among them. Since 2013, Paul has conducted three
studies of how satire can influence people’s beliefs

J U N E 2 0 2 0 19

E X P L O R E | THE BIG IDEA Making a vaccine
case with humor
about issues such as climate change, genetically mod-
ified foods, and vaccinations. We worked together Misconceptions about vaccine safety
on two of these studies, and with other colleagues have contributed to new outbreaks
Jessica recently tested whether late-night television of vaccine-preventable diseases, such
can debunk misperceptions of vaccines (see story as measles in 2014-2015 in California
at right). Our and others’ research has shown that and in 2019 in Washington State. Last
if you want to interest people in science and shape year I partnered with colleagues Emily
their views on hot-button science issues, satirical Moyer-Gusé and Melissa Robinson to
humor can work better than a straitlaced approach. test how a segment of The Daily Show
influenced parents’ misperceptions
M A N Y A M E R I C A N S PAY L I T T L E attention to science. about vaccines.
Even people who regularly watch broadcast television
news or cable news channels receive only scraps of We randomly split study partici-
science information in their media diet, because pants into two groups and gave one
mainstream outlets devote so little airtime to the a joke-free version of the pro-vaccine
subject. On top of that, some Americans may regard segment. The other group got a funny
science as intimidating and hard to understand, so version in which host Jon Stewart
they avoid the topic altogether. mixed humor with information about
the seriousness of the measles virus.
Yet satirical humor can reach viewers who would One of Stewart’s jokes: “The United
never watch NOVA or read—well, National Geo- States has been hit with an outbreak of
graphic. Millions of people watch late-night television a terrible disease. I’m not going to tell
programs live, and videos of these shows get tens of you which one. I’m going to tell you this,
millions of views on streaming services or YouTube. it rhymes with Vin Diesels.” And another,
In 2016, when Paul, his colleague Barbara Ley, and the in which he riffs on a hip-hop hit: “Mea-
University of Delaware Center for Political Commu- sles is off-the-chain contagious. It likes
nication polled a nationally representative sample of big lungs, and it cannot lie!” He also
Americans, nearly one in 10 said they learned about mocks parents who avoid vaccinating
science from late-night television shows such as The their children as “science-denying
Late Show and Last Week Tonight. This figure was affluent California liberals.”
even higher among young people.
Study results showed that viewing
Late-night television programs have mined laughs the funny version of the message low-
from science for decades. Even before Carl Sagan ered vaccine hesitancy among the
became known for the 1980 TV series Cosmos, he was participants, especially among those
a guest of comedian Johnny Carson, who spoofed the who previously had doubts about vac-
astronomer with an exaggerated pronunciation of cine safety. For the audience members
“billion” (as in “100 billion galaxies”). Other scientists with the strongest doubts, the funny
who’ve appeared on late-night programs include Neil version reduced vaccine hesitancy by
deGrasse Tyson, Michio Kaku, and Jane Goodall. about 7 percent.

It’s not hard to see why the relationship between sat- Traditional vaccine messages often
ire and science would be symbiotic. Late-night hosts spark a boomerang effect in which
may occasionally poke fun at scientists, portraying showing doubters pro-vaccine data
them as oddballs working on obscure projects. Much only hardens their skepticism. Our find-
more often, however, the hosts promote a positive ings suggest that humor offers a unique
image of science. Take Colbert, whose NASA-themed opportunity to address mistaken sci-
humor led the space agency to name a zero-gravity ence beliefs without triggering that
treadmill after him; or Kimmel, whose show features sort of backlash. — J E S S I C A M C K N I G H T
science demonstrations with exploding pumpkins
and flying Ping-Pong balls. By making science enter-
taining to audience members with little knowledge of
the topic, late-night television could be a gateway to
science engagement. But if these viewers do tune in
to science topics, will their opinions change?

O U R F I R ST E X P E R I M E N T in 2013 tested how watching
a clip from The Daily Show or The Colbert Report
influenced audience members’ beliefs about climate
change. Viewers who saw Jon Stewart say that global
warming is real came away more certain that climate
change is happening. Colbert’s show had a similar
effect, even though some viewers misinterpreted

20 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C

ILLUSTRATION: JAVIER JAÉN J U N E 2 0 2 0 21

E X P L O R E | THE BIG IDEA

his deadpan humor and mistook the host for a real AT ITS BEST, LATE-NIGHT
climate change doubter. SATIRE ENCOURAGES
VIEWERS NOT ONLY TO
In a 2015 follow-up study, we found that late-night FOLLOW SCIENCE BUT
humor can influence how viewers perceive climate ALSO TO THINK CRITICALLY
science itself. This time, we tested the effects of a Last ABOUT IT.
Week Tonight segment in which host John Oliver
and guest Bill Nye hold a “statistically representative it avoids triggering the backlash that traditional
climate change debate” to illustrate the scientific science communication efforts can elicit. And late-
consensus on the issue. Their “debate” shows Nye night humor can spark science engagement as well.
and 96 other scientists drowning out three global A national survey by researchers Lauren Feldman,
warming doubters. Watching this segment swayed Anthony Leiserowitz, and Edward Maibach found
study participants to see scientists as believing in that watching satirical comedy programs went hand
human-caused climate change—which, in turn, in hand with paying more attention to science sto-
bolstered participants’ own certainty that global ries. Furthermore, the researchers concluded that
warming is happening. The effect was strongest satirical shows had the biggest impact among the
among those least interested in science. least educated viewers, thereby helping to narrow
a gap in attention to science.
Other research has revealed the same sorts of
effects. A study by Ashley Anderson and Amy Becker T H O U G H L AT E - N I G H T S AT I R I C A L humor can boost
found that after watching a satirical video produced science interest and awareness, it has its limits. Sci-
by The Onion, formerly apathetic viewers felt more ence is complex, and conveying that complexity in a
certain that climate change is taking place and is a few minutes while cracking jokes can be a challenge.
serious problem. In another study, Chris Skurka, Jeff
Niederdeppe, and Robin Nabi showed that a segment At its best, late-night satire encourages viewers
from Jimmy Kimmel Live! led audience members to not only to follow science but also to think critically
perceive greater risks from climate change. about it. An episode of Last Week Tonight made that
point with a poke at how news outlets cover scientific
Late-night hosts have also derided groups that, studies. Host John Oliver warned against “thinking
for example, cite a single discredited study to blame that science is à la carte and if you don’t like one
autism on vaccines, or push for teaching creationism study, don’t worry, another will be along soon.” He
in public schools despite the mountain of evidence ridiculed media coverage of science that oversimpli-
for evolution. Kimmel has skewered fears about fies and sensationalizes findings, misuses statistics,
genetically modified foods—which most scientists and cherry-picks results. And he parodied such pre-
say are safe to eat—by showing anti-GMO produce sentations with his own brand of “TODD talks”—for
shoppers struggle to explain on camera what the Trends, Observations, and Dangerous Drivel.
acronym means. And on that Full Frontal episode
mentioned earlier, a skit depicted fictional high The members of his audience may be laughing,
school students mocking anti-vaxxers’ claims (“Wow, but they seem to be learning as well. j
you make vaccinations sound so cool; maybe it is bad
to get diseases from the Middle Ages”). The 2016 poll Paul R. Brewer is a professor of communication at the University
that Paul conducted with Barbara Ley found that of Delaware and co-editor in chief of the International Journal of
late-night viewers were more likely than nonviewers Public Opinion Research. His research focuses on science com-
to agree with scientists on both GMOs and vaccines, munication and public opinion. Jessica McKnight is a doctoral
even after accounting for many other factors that
also shape science attitudes. candidate at Ohio State University. Her research
centers on science and policy issues that often have
Late-night humor may be particularly effective important impacts on people’s daily lives, such as
at debunking scientific misconceptions because public health and environmental sustainability.

Satire: The Classics A Modest Proposal (1729) is Jonathan
Swift’s mock solution to Irish poverty.
Throughout history, satire has been used to make social,
Voltaire’s Candide (1759) ridicules
cultural, and political points, and to influence public opinion. blind optimism in the face of inhu-
manity and disaster.

Animal Farm (1945) is George
Orwell’s veiled critique of Stalinism.

Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to
Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is
Stanley Kubrick ’s 1964 dark comedy
about nuclear brinkmanship (left).

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E X P L O R E | CAPTURED

THE NEED FOR SPEED— As these supersonic
BUT WITH LESS NOISE T-38 jets flew over the
California Mojave Des-
ert, their shock waves
merged. Cameras on
a NASA airplane 2,000
feet above captured
the image—and data
that may help quiet the
sonic booms of future
supersonic aircraft.

—MICHAEL GRESHKO

NASA USED FALSE-COLOR AND COMPOSITE TECHNIQUES TO MAKE THE SHOCK WAVES VISIBLE IN THIS 2018 IMAGE.

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E X P L O R E | BREAKTHROUGHS

DISPATCHE S Magnetic heart passes test
FROM THE FRONT LINES
At least 26 million people worldwide
OF SCIENCE suffer heart failure; only about 5,500 a
A N D I N N OVAT I O N year get transplants. Artificial hearts so
far have been heavy and complex—but
a new “maglev heart” (right), powered
by a single, magnetically levitating disk,
could be a solution. Tested successfully
in cows, the palm-size titanium device
will soon begin human trials. — C D

A R T I FAC T S ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

Honoring A NEW DIMENSION TO
how Inca CUTTLEFISH’S HUNTING
kept records
SCIENTISTS STUDY THE CEPHALOPODS’ 3D VISION
Because the Inca (WHEN THE ANIMALS KEEP THE GLASSES ON)
Empire lacked
alphabetic writing, C O O L A S A … C U T T L E F I S H ? The shades on this species are more than
bureaucrats made stylish: They revealed to scientists that cuttlefish, like humans, see
notes with a quipu, with stereopsis, or two-eyed depth perception. When shown com-
a tool of colored puter images of two shrimps—one red, one blue—placed slightly
strings and knots. apart on a screen, the trained invertebrates moved close enough
Researchers study- each time to sling their tentacles at the digital prey. This meant that
ing 1,000 or so the cuttlefish were calculating depth within seconds, their brains
surviving quipus merging the red and blue shrimp images into a single 3D picture.
say they likely were Figuring out another animal’s location in the water is vital for Euro-
used to record cen- pean cuttlefish to catch speedy prey, says University of Minnesota
sus data, taxes, and ecologist Trevor Wardill. “There’s a lot more going on in that head
stories about Inca than you might guess,” he says. Still, the research hit snags. At first
rulers. In January the cephalopods, like petulant tots, pulled off the glasses—until sci-
the Peruvian Minis- entists plied them with treats: live shrimps. — CHRISTINE DELL’AMORE
try of Culture gave
the quipu national PHOTOS (FROM TOP): PETER ADAMS; FEORD ET AL., 2020; ROBERT CLARK
heritage status,
hailing it as an inge-
nious legacy of the
indigenous culture.

—NINA STROCHLIC

EXPLORE

INNOVATOR GAUTAM SHAH

BY THERESA MACHEMER PHOTO GRAPH BY REBECCA HALE

He uses the power of
gaming to promote
wildlife conservation.

Gautam Shah had spent 20 years work-
ing in IT—and his whole life caring
about nature. He saw advances in con-
servation that got mentioned only in
science journals, “but the story lines
within that data are amazing; they’re
fascinating,” Shah says. “They’re
absolutely things that can engage
an audience.”

Eager to use his techie skills for wild-
life conservation, Shah—a National
Geographic explorer—founded a game
company called Internet of Elephants
in 2016. The Kenya-based start-up
designs digital experiences to tell real
conservation stories based on real data.

One example: Wildeverse, an
augmented reality mobile app like
Pokemon Go, launched in April 2020.
In the game, players can “track” apes
by collecting environmental samples
such as fruit and scat. Rather than put-
ting lots of high-tech tricks in a game,
Shah says, the company prioritizes
telling a compelling, true story through
whatever technology is best suited to it.

Shah believes that gaming has a
unique ability to connect audiences
with wildlife in a deep, personal
way that will generate concern and
advocacy. His goal is for Internet of
Elephants to reach more than 50 mil-
lion people by 2027.

Ideally, he says, “we can create an
entire industry where creating games
and these type of digital experiences
about wildlife conservation becomes
as commonplace as creating a wildlife

documentary.” j

E X P L O R E | THROUGH THE LENS

The Tale
of a Lost
Whale

THE BELUGA WAS FRIENDLY.
IT WAS WELL TRAINED.
IT WORE A HARNESS.

WHERE DID IT COME FROM?

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
AUDUN RIKARDSEN

A F I S H E R M A N I K N OW named Joar Hesten called water to remove the harness. Attached to the strap

me late in April 2019. A beluga whale was swimming were a camera mount and clips with the words (in

around his boat near the northern tip of Norway. English) “Equipment St. Petersburg.” The contrap-

It appeared to be wrapped in a tight harness, and tion didn’t look like anything that a scientist would

Hesten didn’t know what to do. Belugas are use to track whales.

usually found in pods in areas with ice and The rescuers and I wondered whether

glaciers—rarely alone along the Norwegian he’d been trained by the Russian military.

coast. As a marine biologist, I knew that Hammerfest The media took that speculation further,
the harness needed to be removed as soon dubbing him the “Russian spy whale.”
as possible. I had no idea how puzzling ATLANTIC One outlet christened him Hvaldimir—a

OCEAN NORWAY

it would turn out to be. EUROPE play on hval, the Norwegian word for
We contacted the Norwegian Direc- “whale,” and the first name of Russian

torate of Fisheries Sea Surveillance Ser- president Vladimir Putin.

vice. When inspector Jørgen Ree Wiig and his A week after his discovery, Hvaldimir fol-

crew rendezvoused with the fishing boat, the nearly lowed a sailboat to Hammerfest harbor, about 25

12-foot-long male eagerly engaged with them. He’d miles from where he was first spotted. That’s where

clearly been trained. I met him in early May and took this photograph. I

The mystery deepened when Hesten got into the had traveled to Hammerfest to determine his physical

30 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C NGM MAPS

condition. He was thin: He wasn’t eating on his own in St. Petersburg. A trusted source told me that
and seemed unlikely to survive in the wild. Later the Hvaldimir had indeed escaped from a Russian Navy
authorities decided to feed him; his meals became program in Murmansk. My source didn’t reveal what
daily tourist attractions in Hammerfest. the beluga had been trained to do.

Yet when I slipped into the water in my snorkel In June Hvaldimir left Hammerfest, in much
gear to examine Hvaldimir, I was most struck by his better shape than when he arrived. Since then he
friendliness—and his loneliness. During our swim has traveled along the coast of northern Norway,
together, Hvaldimir pulled off one of my flippers, apparently feeding himself. During the polar night,
which sank into the deep. I shouted to him under- he swam in fjords near whale-watching and fishing
water, and he dived for it. A few minutes later, he vessels. Those waters are patrolled by hundreds of
returned with my flipper balanced on his snout and killer whales—potential predators.
presented it to me. His former trainers, whoever they
were, must have treated him well. Many people have opinions about what to do with
Hvaldimir. Should the lone whale be placed in a dolph-
Training such a whale is expensive and time- inarium, moved to a beluga habitat, or just left to him-
consuming, yet no one claimed him. The Norwe- self? So far, he seems to be doing fine on his own. j
gian Police Security Service got on the case, and
a German journalist used crowdsourcing to track Audun Rikardsen is a nature photographer and a professor of
the harness logo to an outdoor-equipment supplier freshwater and marine biology at UiT—the Arctic University of Nor-
way. Previously he wrote about losing his camera to a polar bear.

J U N E 2 0 2 0 31

TR AV E L IN THIS SECTION

WWII Memorials
Peru’s Potato Revival
On the Coast in Denmark

WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO KNOW, AND HOW TO SEE THE WORLD

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VOL. 237 NO. 6

- .. ...J
... -. . ct
•, .
• .........

JORDAN’S EPIC TREK.. ..~ r- ..

S T R E TC H I N G A B O U T 4 0 0 M I L E S , the Jordan Trail weaves through such < ,., -

storied sites as the ancieInlt city of Petra (its monastery is shown here) ~

and vast spaces of desert dune and rocky valley. Where Nabataeans and ' .....
Romans once walked along trade routes, adventure travelers now roam. '

WHAT YOU’LL SEE EXPLORE MORE HOW TO GET THERE t,

Opened in 2017 and con- On the trail: Earth’s lowest The trail’s starting point, ---l~ .'
ceived as a north-to-south land point, the Dead Sea "t
route, the trail begins in has a salt content so high Umm Qais, is roughly two
the village of Umm Qais that it inhibits macroscopic
and ends at the Red Sea life—and allows swimmers hours by bus from Amman,
city of Al Aqabah. Despite to float effortlessly on the
Jordan’s arid climate, surface. Divers are drawn - •Jordan’s capital city. Some ~~, ,~~-~
the landscape varies from to colorful coral reefs in ... ,_~ ="" -
olive tree–studded slopes the waters off Al Aqabah. travelers walk on their ;
in the north to water- own, but the Jordan Trail ~· .
lapped shores in the Off the trail: The well- " ....... ......~ ~, ·~~
south. In between lie the preserved Roman city of Association supports
otherworldly sandstone Jerash holds a massive
weekend trips, four-day
formations•of Wadi Rum— •hippodrome once used
section itineraries, and
often a movie stand-in for for chariot rac'ing. In the
Mars—where pictographs an annua•l group expedi-
from the Nabataean Shaumari Wildlife Reserve,
culture date back more visitors can glimpse such tion. Overnight accommo-
than two millennia. rare species as the rhim
gazelle and Arabian oryx. dations can be arranged ~

in village homes or in ' ...

...ecolodges staffed by \" ~

local Bedouin. ~ .,-
\ ...'

• •

32 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C

‘DOTTED WITH THE RUINS
OF EMPIRES ONCE GREAT,

[JORDAN] IS THE LAST
RESORT OF YESTERDAY IN
THE WORLD OF TOMORROW.’

—Hussein bin Talal, former king of Jordan

GETTING THERE

BY THE NUMBERS

40

DAYS I T T Y P I C A L LY TA K E S
TO HIKE THE ENTIRE TRAIL

52

V I L L AG E S A LO N G T H E WAY,
MANY OFFERING HOME STAYS

2,300

APPROXIMATE AGE IN YEARS
OF THE CITY OF PETRA

ASIA
JORDAN

AFRICA ArabSiaena

B Y A A RO N G U L L E Y P H OTO G R A P H B Y C AT H E R I N E H Y L A N D

NGM MAPS J U N E 2 0 2 0 33

T R AV E L | CHECKLIST

JUNE World War II ended
75 years ago this summer.
Here are five ways to
mark the moment.

BY MARYELLEN
KENNEDY DUCKETT

1 3
NEW BOOK

Countdown to Peace

The last installment in military historian
Ian W. Toll’s Pacific War trilogy, Twilight
of the Gods uses firsthand accounts
to detail the ferocious battles and high-
stakes decisions of the war’s final year.

HISTORIC SITE A R T I FAC T 4 W H I L E I N T E R N E D during the
war, artist George Hoshida
Island Outpost RECENTLY ADDED WORKS recorded his surroundings
Hundreds of bunkers, TO THE COLLECTION OF ART in drawings and watercolors.
tunnels, and other AT JERUSALEM’S YAD View a display online and in
remnants of Hitler’s VASHEM, THE WORLD rotating exhibitions at the
defensive Atlantic HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE Japanese American National
Wall dot the Channel CENTER, THIS COMPASS Museum in Los Angeles.
Islands, located off the WAS USED BY JEWISH
coast of Normandy, RESISTANCE LEADER
France. On Alderney, SHLOMO BRANDT ON
see the observation COVERT OPERATIONS IN
tower called the Odeon WHAT IS NOW LITHUANIA.
(above) and hike the
Bibette Head Trail
to explore some of
the best-preserved
German strongholds.

5 RESTORED AIRCRAFT

THE NONPROFIT
COLLINGS FOUNDATION
MAINTAINS HISTORIC
PLANES, SUCH AS THE
WWII-ERA LOCKHEED
P-38 LIGHTNING, THAT
TOUR MUSEUMS AND
AIR SHOWS AROUND
THE UNITED STATES.

PHOTOS: ALDERNEYMAN/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (TOWER); YAD VASHEM ARTIFACTS COLLECTION, COURTESY IKA BRANDT, REUT, ISRAEL (COMPASS); JAPANESE AMERICAN
NATIONAL MUSEUM (GIFT OF JUNE HOSHIDA HONMA, SANDRA HOSHIDA, AND CAROLE HOSHIDA KANADA, 97.106.1FO); SCOTT SLOCUM, AERO MEDIA GROUP (PLANE)

DISCOVERY | T R A V E L

ON THE MENU IN PERU:
SUPER POTATOES

PHOTO GRAPH BY ALEC JACOBSON

S I N C E AT L E A ST 5000 B.C., inhabitants potato pioneer, Manuel Choqque Bravo.
of what’s now Peru have been feasting He has created what he calls Manuel’s
on spuds. It makes sense: More than super potatoes—high in antioxidants
4,000 varieties grow here. But the and ablaze with pink, blue, and purple
diversity and cultural value of the crop hues. Bravo proves tubers are delicious
are under threat from industrialized not only as food but also as drink, with
agriculture. Today inventive chefs such innovations that include Miskioca, a
as Virgilio Martínez are boosting the fermented tipple made from the color-
status of the potato and other tradi- ful potato-like oca.
tional Andean foods into cuisine often
dubbed Novoandina. Another game changer, Lima-based
chef Palmiro Ocampo, promotes zero-
At Mil, Martínez’s restaurant in the waste cooking and sustainable food
Sacred Valley, travelers can help har- with dishes like potato-peel chicken
vest the very potatoes that will end nuggets. Drawing from the past to
up on their plates as part of an eight- transform modern fare, these chefs
course, Andean-focused menu. The are passing the potatoes, and helping
myriad types found at Mil (some shown to make Peru one of the world’s top
here) are due in part to Peru’s latest dining destinations. — R E B EC C A WO L F F

T R A V E L | CLOSER LOOK

On the west coast of the Danish island Bornholm, the 49-foot-tall Krogeduren is a freestanding rock tower that attracts climbers.

COASTAL CONNECTION

DENMARK’S STORIED TIES TO ITS SHORES
MAY BE THE COUNTRY’S SECRET TO WELLNESS.

BY HELEN RUSSELL

IN DENMARK you’re never more than 30 miles from the granted; it’s a way of life. For many of us, looking out
sea. Aside from Jutland’s boundary with Germany, at water every day is key.”
Denmark is entirely surrounded by water, with a
total of 5,437 miles of coastline, or kystland. The whole of Denmark is lowland, formed by Ice
Age glaciers and glacial streams. With the highest
“This made it perfect for the Viking society, in point just 558 feet above sea level, the country is
which sailing was the most important way to get especially susceptible to flooding and storms. Sea
around,” says Rikke Johansen, curator at the Viking levels are expected to rise three feet by 2100, and
Ship Museum, in Roskilde. “Land divided people; archaeologists are worried that historical sites on
water connected them.” the coast will disappear altogether.

Fishing was a necessity for survival long before In 2019 the 120-year-old Rubjerg Knude light-
Denmark, which is made up of 406 islands, became house, originally built 656 feet from the sea, had to
an agricultural nation, but today, Johansen says, be wheeled back, as coastal erosion had shrunk that
water means leisure for most Danes: “We take it for distance to just 19 feet. To protect low-lying land,

PHOTO: MATHIAS SVOLD AND ULRIK HASEMANN

H AV E YO U
ROLLED OVER?

CHANGE THE WORLD WITH YOUR IRA ROLLOVER

If you are at least 70 1/2 years old, you can transfer up to $100,000 directly to the
National Geographic Society’s conservation and scientific research work from a
traditional or Roth IRA without paying income tax on the withdrawal—and help you
meet your required minimum distribution.

To discuss your IRA Charitable Rollover, simply notify your IRA Administrator or contact
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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MICHAEL NICHOLS 20PGAD06

T R A V E L | CLOSER LOOK

dikes have been built along 1,118 miles of coastline, to be greeted by an octogenarian as bare as the day

and most are covered by grass to encourage wildlife. he was born.

To defend exposed stretches of coast from acceler- In Bornholm, off the coast of Copenhagen, you

ated erosion, sand is brought in from designated can eat Michelin-starred cuisine and lounge on sand

areas offshore to nourish shorefaces, beaches, and so fine, it was used in hourglasses.

dunes, without which some parts of the west coast Photogenic Ærø, a tiny isle south of the central

would retreat by 26 feet a year. Danish island of Fyn, has become known as Den-

On the windy west coast of Jutland, Klitmøller is mark’s wedding island.

known as Cold Hawaii because of its seven-foot waves In summer, when it can stay light past 11 p.m.,

and surf culture. “There’s a strong history of fear many Danes fit in a second shift of leisure after work

around the water, and respect for it too,” says local to sail, fish, kayak, or windsurf. “You never get bored,”

Casper Steinfath, a world champion stand-up paddle says boatbuilder Søren Nielsen, from Roskilde. “You

surfer. He tells me about the tradition of swimming can leave your phone, your ‘busyness,’ behind and

with a rope that’s tied around the waist and tethered just get out there to feel close to nature.”

to a pier or other sturdy object, to avoid being As Steinfath says, “The coastline is my

pulled under. “We have a saying on the happy place.” It’s little wonder that Den-

west coast that we’re ‘born against the mark is regularly reported as one of the

wind.’ But it makes you stronger.” ATLANTIC happiest countries in the world, includ-
OCEAN
At the northern tip of Jutland, the ing by Blue Zones author Dan Buettner.
Baltic meets the North Sea at Skagen, DENMARK With 1,300 near-pristine beaches and

where you can stand in the shallows EUROPE a population of just 5.8 million, it’s not
to feel the bodies of waters collide. For- unusual to have a beach to yourself in

merly the largest fishing community in Denmark. Many towns provide sleep-

Denmark, Skagen is now famed for migrat- ing shelters and stores of chopped wood to

ing sand dunes and a unique quality of light encourage campers, and you can dine for free

that has inspired everyone from the 19th-century from plentiful mussel beds much of the year. All

Skagen painters to contemporary artists such as Niels you need is a cooking pan and some Viking spirit.

Poplens. “In Skagen even the shadows are bright,” “There’s definitely a Nordic energy here,” says

says Poplens. Steinfath, “and as a Viking, you develop resilience.

Denmark’s east coast, where I live, is more shel- The coastline is a place where ocean and Earth are

tered. Protected inlets and fjords lend themselves to locked in an eternal and relentless battle. These wild

tamer pastimes, such as stand-up paddleboarding. forces of nature both inspire and humble me. They

Soft, sandy beaches attract recreation au naturel; make me feel alive.” j

there are whole stretches of sand reserved for nudists. Helen Russell is the author of The Year of Living Danishly and,
After a recent dip off a pier, I mounted a stepladder most recently, The Atlas of Happiness.

Shore up (clockwise from top left): Friends splash and climb at Rudkøbing beach; coastal erosion endangers a now abandoned house;
Copenhagen harbor welcomes a swimmer; Denmark’s largest sandbox is Råbjerg Mile; friends stand on Sanctuary Rocks on Bornholm.

PHOTOS: MATHIAS SVOLD AND ULRIK HASEMANN. NGM MAPS

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC JUNE 2020

F EAT U R E S WWII Remembered ... P. 42
Hiroshima Stories ....... P. 86
Emperor Penguins...... P. 94
Women in Politics ....... P. 108
Skateboarding. . . . . . . . . . . P. 132

94 ‘BEFORE THE SEA ICE MELTS,
THE EMPEROR PENGUIN
CHICKS MUST SWAP THEIR
GRAY DOWN FOR WATERPROOF,
ADULT FEATHERS; OTHERWISE,
THEY ’LL DROWN.’

PHOTO: STEFAN CHRISTMANN

GALINA SIDORENKO, LENINGRAD SURVIVOR HARUO YAMA
JOHN “JACK” THURMAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS CLARA HUNTE

MAXIMILIAN LERNER, COUNTER INTELLIGENCE CORPS AZUMA OHYA

R.R. “RUSSELL” CLARK, U.S. NAVY (SEE PAGE 64)

42

DA, JAPANESE ARMY MIKHAIL MOROZ, SOVIET FORCES
ER DOUTLY, AMERICAN “ROSIE THE RIVETER” KISAKO MOTOKI, TOKYO AIR RAID SURVIVOR

, JAPANESE ARMY NINA DANILKOVICH, BELARUSIAN RESISTANCE

BORIS SMIRNOV, SOVIET MEDIC (SEE PAGE 65)

T

H

LASTE

VOICES
OF

WORLD

WAR II

Some were heroes. Some were vic-
tims. Others fought for the fascists
who sought to dominate the planet.
As their generation fades 75 years
after the fighting stopped, their
remembrances are as poignant as ever.

Introduction by Photographs by
LY NN E OLSON ROBERT CLARK

Racing to claim the
prize that was Berlin,
Soviet soldiers rush
through the streets
of the doomed Ger-
man capital in April
1945. By then the city
was in ruins from Allied
bombing, and Hitler’s
Third Reich was crum-
bling. German forces
surrendered on May 7;
the following day was
declared Victory in
Europe (or V-E) Day.

DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE/GETTY

IMAGES

Wolfgang Brockmann
German veteran

‘A young Russian soldier came out of
the bushes … without weapons,
hands up, already bandaged, injured.
He must have been completely lost.
I would have said, go back! get
out of here! But an older soldier
immediately pulled out his gun and
shot him. That was against all my ideas
of surrender … But these are the horrors
of war, which turns humans

into monsters.’

Brockmann, now 93, late in the war, he saw
was 12 years old in atrocities that were
1939, when Germany “against all the morals
invaded Poland and I felt as a German
ignited World War II. soldier.” He ended the
Hitler was his idol, and war in Soviet captivity—
he itched to get in “the worst-case
the fight. When he did, scenario,” he says.

48 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C





Equipment and sup-
plies litter the island
of Iwo Jima, scene of
one of the bloodiest
battles of the war in
the Pacific. After five
days of fierce fighting,
U.S. marines raised
the American flag
atop Mount Suribachi
(background). But the
fighting would rage for
another three weeks,
driving even battle-
hardened warriors to
their limit. Said one
veteran: “I came across
marines sitting on the
ground, hands to their
faces, sobbing their
hearts out.”

UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE/

GETTY IMAGES



Nobuo Nishizaki
Japanese veteran

‘We were sent to die for

the emperor and imperial

nation, and everyone acted like
we believed in it. But when the
soldiers were dying, the young
ones called out to their
mothers and older ones called
out their children’s names.
I never heard anyone calling the
emperor and nation.’

Leaving home for the winds of war swept him
navy in 1942, Nishizaki, across the Pacific, from
one battle to the next,
then 15, was given an and finally to a suicide
order by his mother:
“You must survive and mission at Okinawa.
come back,” she said. Despite long odds, he
lived—and honored his
He clung tightly to
her words, even as the mother’s demand.

T H E L A S T V O I C E S O F W O R L D WA R I I 53



A fallen Soviet soldier
still grips a hand
grenade while another
takes aim at German
invaders during the
Battle of Stalingrad.
The battle—one of the
largest and longest in
history—went on for
200 days, reducing the
city (since renamed
Volgograd) to rubble.
Both sides suffered
staggering losses,
but Soviet forces
ultimately prevailed,
destroying the entire
German Sixth Army
and turning the tide of
war in Europe.

ROGER-VIOLLET/GETTY IMAGES